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University Design: Part III

2016-04-27T11:46:00-04:00

Our new series explores the history and future of university design. The first three installments detail key moments in university design history. The fourth and final installment discusses current trends in the field.

Last week, we took a look at two early American universities. This week, we’ll explore four innovative models of higher education from the 20th and 21st century.

Norwich -- 1963

“We have recognized that students' ways of living are changing, that there is a deep desire to relax the enforced formalities of the college hall of residence.” – Denys Lasdun

University architects have traditionally looked to the past to inform their designs. James Gamble Rogers, for instance, reportedly splashed acid on the stone walls of buildings he designed for Yale to simulate the effects of aging. But, when Denys Lasdun set out to build the University of East Anglia, he aimed to find a modern form for the school.

The result was a forward-looking campus in the of-the-...

University Design: Part II

2016-04-20T16:03:00-04:00

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Last week, we took a look at three early universities that shaped the design of future institutions of higher education. This week, we'll compare two early American universities.

Williamsburg – 1693

"To make, found and establish a certain place of universal study, or perpetual College of Divinity, Philosophy, Languages, and other good Arts and Sciences…” –The Court of William and Mary

In 1693, Coregents William and Mary chartered this college, one of the New World’s first institution of higher learning.

Like English colleges, all of the functions of the College of William and Mary were housed in one building where students lived, studied, and attended religious services. The U-shaped building partially encloses a courtyard, which functions like...

University Design: Part I

2016-04-12T15:51:00-04:00

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Athens – c. 380 BCE

“I am going, I said, from the Academy straight to the Lyceum.” -- Plato, from Lysis

Athens was the home to the first formal institutions of higher learning in the Western world. Plato’s Academy opened its doors in the mid-380s BCE. Aristotle studied at the Academy for twenty years before opening his own school – the Lyceum – in 334 BCE.

Athenian education aimed to shape both the mind and the body. Students held foot races on dromoi, wrestled in the palestra, attended lectures, and studied the maps and statuary that lined the stoa. Evidence indicates there were not dedicated classrooms at either the Academy or the Lyceum; instead, most of the learning happened in informal discussions and open-air lectures.

Kingdom of Magadha – c....